Sec. 101. Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders
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There shall be in the Department of Health and Human Services an official to be known as the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders, who shall— report directly to the Secretary; be appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; and be selected from among individuals who— have a doctoral degree in medicine or osteopathic medicine and clinical and research experience in psychiatry; graduated from an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited psychiatric residency program; and have an understanding of biological, psychosocial, and pharmaceutical treatments of mental illness and substance use disorders; or have a doctoral degree in psychology with— clinical and research experience regarding mental illness and substance use disorders; and an understanding of biological, psychosocial, and pharmaceutical treatments of mental illness and substance use disorders.
The Assistant Secretary shall— promote, evaluate, organize, integrate, and coordinate research, treatment, and services across departments, agencies, organizations, and individuals with respect to the problems of individuals suffering from substance use disorders or mental illness; carry out any functions within the Department of Health and Human Services— to improve the treatment of, and related services to, individuals with respect to substance use disorders or mental illness; to improve secondary prevention or tertiary prevention services for such individuals; to ensure access to effective, evidence-based treatment for individuals with mental illnesses and individuals with a substance use disorder; to ensure that grant programs of the Department adhere to scientific standards with an emphasis on secondary prevention and tertiary prevention for individuals with serious mental illness or substance use disorders; and to develop and implement initiatives to encourage individuals to pursue careers (especially in underserved areas and populations) as psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, clinical social workers, and other licensed mental health professionals specializing in the diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of individuals with severe mental illness, including individuals— who are vulnerable to crises, psychotic episodes, or suicidal rumination; whose deterioration can be rapid; or who require more frequent contact or integration of a variety of services by the treating mental health professional; carry out the administrative and financial management, policy development and planning, evaluation, knowledge dissemination, and public information functions that are required for the implementation of mental health programs, including block grants, treatments, and data collection; conduct and coordinate demonstration projects, evaluations, and service system assessments and other activities necessary to improve the availability and quality of treatment, prevention, and related services related to substance use disorders and mental illness; within the Department of Health and Human Services, oversee and coordinate all programs and activities relating to— the prevention of, or treatment or rehabilitation for, mental health or substance use disorders; parity in health insurance benefits and conditions relating to mental health and substance use disorder; or the reduction of homelessness among individuals with mental illness; across the Federal Government, in conjunction with the Interagency Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee under section 501A— review all programs and activities relating to the prevention of, or treatment or rehabilitation for, mental illness or substance use disorders; identify any such programs and activities that are duplicative; identify any such programs and activities that are not evidence-based, effective, or efficient; and formulate recommendations for expanding, coordinating, eliminating, and improving programs and activities identified pursuant to subparagraph
(B)or
(C)and merging such programs and activities into other, successful programs and activities; identify evidence-based best practices across the Federal Government for treatment and services for those with mental health and substance use disorders by reviewing practices for efficiency, effectiveness, quality, coordination, and cost effectiveness; be the head of and supervise the National Mental Health Policy Laboratory; and not later than one year after the date of enactment of the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2015, submit to the Congress a report containing a nationwide strategy to increase the psychiatric workforce and recruit medical professionals for the treatment of individuals with serious mental illness and substance use disorders. The Assistant Secretary shall ensure that the nationwide strategy in the report under subsection (b)(9) is designed— to encourage and incentivize students enrolled in an accredited medical or osteopathic medical school to enter the specialty of psychiatry; to promote greater research-oriented psychiatrist residency training on evidence-based service delivery models for individuals with serious mental illness or substance use disorders; to promote appropriate Federal administrative and fiscal mechanisms that support— evidence-based collaborative care models; and the necessary psychiatric workforce capacity for these models, including psychiatrists (including child and adolescent psychiatrists), psychologists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, clinical social workers, and mental health, peer-support specialists; to increase access to child and adolescent psychiatric services in order to promote early intervention for prevention and mitigation of mental illness; and to identify populations and locations that are the most underserved by mental health professionals and the most in need of psychiatrists (including child and adolescent psychiatrists), psychologists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, clinical social workers, and mental health, peer-support specialists. In carrying out the duties described in subsection (b), the Assistant Secretary shall prioritize— the integration of mental health, substance use, and physical health services for the purpose of diagnosing, preventing, treating, or providing rehabilitation for mental illness or substance use disorders, including any such services provided through the justice system (including departments of correction) or other entities other than the Department of Health and Human Services; crisis intervention for, early diagnosis and intervention services for the prevention of, and treatment and rehabilitation for, serious mental illness or substance use disorders; and workforce development for— appropriate treatment of serious mental illness or substance use disorders; and research activities that advance scientific and clinical understandings of these disorders, including the development and implementation of a continuing nationwide strategy to increase the psychiatric workforce with psychiatrists, child and adolescent psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, clinical social workers, and mental health peer support specialists. In awarding any grant or financial assistance, the Assistant Secretary, and any agency or official within the Office of the Assistant Secretary, shall comply with the following: The grant or financial assistance shall be for activities consisting of, or based upon, applied scientific research. Any program to be funded shall be demonstrated— in the case of an ongoing program, to be effective; and in the case of a new program, to have the prospect of being effective. The programs and activities to be funded shall use evidence-based best practices or emerging evidence-based best practices that are translational and can be expanded or replicated to other States, local communities, agencies, or through the Medicaid program under title XIX of the Social Security Act. An application for the grant or financial assistance shall include, as applicable, a scientific justification based on previously demonstrated models, the number of individuals to be served, the population to be targeted, what objective outcomes measures will be used, and details on how the program or activity to be funded can be replicated and by whom. Applicants shall be evaluated and selected through a blind, peer-review process by expert mental health care providers with professional experience in mental health research or treatment and where appropriate or necessary professional experience related to substance abuse and other areas of expertise appropriate to the grant or other financial assistance. No member of a peer-review group conducting a blind, peer-review process, as required by paragraph (5), may be related to anyone who may be applying for the type of award being reviewed, may be a current grant applicant, or may have a financial or employment interested in selecting whom to receive the award. Award recipients may be periodically reviewed and audited at the discretion of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services or the Comptroller General of the United States to ensure that— the best scientific method for both services and data collection is being followed; and Federal funds are being used as required by the conditions of the award and by applicable guidelines of the NMHPL. Award recipients that fail an audit or fail to provide information pursuant to an audit shall have their awards terminated. In this section: The term secondary prevention means prevention that is designed to prevent a disease or condition from occurring among individuals or a subpopulation determined to be at risk for the disease or condition. The term tertiary prevention means prevention that is designed to reduce or minimize the consequences of a disease or condition among individuals showing symptoms of the disease or condition.